Hidden diversity: the first record of the soldier fly Heptozus Lindner, 1949 (Diptera, Stratiomyidae) for Brazil

ABSTRACT

Heptozus Lindner, with a known distribution in Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama, is recorded for the first time in Brazil with the occurrence of Heptozus hansoni James in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

Keywords:
Brachycera; Heptozus hansoni James; Neotropical region; Raphiocerinae; Taxonomy

Heptozus Lindner, 1949 is a quite distinct genus of Raphiocerinae, characterized by the antenna with an elongated antennal scape and terminal arista-like stylus (Lindner, 1949; James, 1966) (Fig. 1). Two species are currently recognized for the genus, Heptozus ecuadorianus Lindner, 1949 (Ecuador) and Heptozus hansoni James, 1966 (Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama) (Woodley, 2001).

Figure 1
Live specimen of Heptozus hansoni James from Costa Rica (© Marco de Hass).

Lindner (1949) described H. ecuadorianus based on a single male from Ecuador, and the species is mainly characterized by the antennal pedicel as long as the antennal scape; basal portion of the arista-like stylus similar in size and shape to the other flagellomeres; and foretibia dark, almost black. James (1966) described the second species of the genus, H. hansoni, based on 28 specimens (26 ♂ and 2 ♀) from Panama and Ecuador. In general, this species is distinguished from H. ecuadorianus by the antennal pedicel shorter than the antennal scape, which is never more than 1.5x the length of the antennal pedicel; antennal flagellum with arista-like stylus distinct from the other flagellomeres; and foretibia yellow, like the tibia of the other legs. Although the original description indicates that the foretibia in H. hansoni is yellow, it can vary from yellow to brownish, but never black.

The fact that H. ecuadorianus, after 75 years, is still known solely and exclusively through the type specimen of the original description, raises questions about the existence and validity of the two species. Even when describing H. hansoni, James (1966) had doubts about the paratype from Ecuador, because in this specimen, the antennal flagellum was absent and the scutellar spines were almost as long as the scutellum. However, James (1966) concluded that the specimen was indeed a specimen of H. hansoni based on other differential characters that differed from Lindner's species. Even so, there is the possibility that Heptozus is a monotypic genus, but so far there is not enough evidence to confirm this hypothesis and, in this study, both species are treated as valid.

Despite the known distribution of Heptozus, restricted to Central America and northwestern South America, it has now been recorded here for the first time in Brazil with the occurrence of Heptozus hansoni in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (Figure 2).

Figure 2
Geographic distribution of Heptozus hansoni James.

The specimen of Heptozus hansoni are housed at the Coleção Entomológica Padre Jesus Santiago Moure (DZUP), Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. Photographs were taken with digital camera Canon^© EOS Rebel^© T7. Measurements in mm. Distribution records data were plotted in Google Earth Pro and mapped in QGIS^©. The shapefile with South and Central America limits were obtained from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia03388-south-america-shaded-relief-and-colored-height). Data of different labels in material examined are separated by a bar (/) and additional information completing missing/omitted data is enclosed in square brackets ([ ]).

Heptozus hansoni James, 1966

(Figs. 3–4)

Figure 3
Heptozus hansoni James, dorsal view.

Figure 4
Heptozus hansoni James. a, lateral view; b–c, head, frontal view; d, right wing.

Heptozus hansoni James, 1966: 679. HT ♂ [USU]. Panama: Cerro Campana.

Diagnosis. According to James (1966), H. hansoni James differs from H. ecuadorianus Lindner by presenting the following set of characters: (1) the base of the arista-like stylus is not strongly inflated, and the flagellar complex is consequently more widely differentiated from the arista-like stylus; (2) antennal pedicel is slightly shorter than the scape; (3) flagellum black and darker than pedicel; (4) frontal black marking not horseshoe-shaped; (5) fore tibia yellow; (6) scutellar spines shorter than scutellum.

Distribution. Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul), Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama.

Material examined. BRASIL, MT [*MS - Mato Grosso do Sul instead of MT - Mato Grosso], Dourados, 27-28.xii.1976, J. Lorenzoni col./ DPTO ZOOL [Departamento de Zoologia], UF-PARANÁ [Universidade Federal do Paraná] (♂ DZUP-460927). [*Until 1977, the city of Dourados was part of Mato Grosso (MT), when the state was dismembered, and the southern part of the state became Mato Grosso do Sul (MS). It became a state of the federation in 1979, when it was officially separated from Mato Grosso (IBGE, 2024).

Comments. The specimen examined is in a good condition, but some structures have been lost, such as: antennal flagella, scutellar spines, left wing, terminal tarsomeres of the forelegs, and midlegs (Figs. 3–4).

Discussion.Heptozus hansoni is recorded for the first time in Brazil through a single specimen collected in the municipality of Dourados, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the 1970s. Its previously known distribution was restricted to Costa Rica, Panama (Central America) and Ecuador (South America) (Woodley, 2001). In Central America, the species is common at low to middle elevations and possibly has a wider distribution north into tropical lowlands (Woodley, 2009). While for Ecuador, the only known record in the literature is of a male paratype from the original description of the species (James, 1966). Since H. hansoni is recorded for Ecuador, it was at least expected that it could have a distribution throughout Andean America (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela) or even an Amazonian distribution (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela). So, at least in principle, the species was not expected to be found in the Brazilian Central-West, in a location under the domain of the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes. However, this implies that very little is known about the species, which is also true for the entire subfamily. Recently Neanalcocerus hortulanus (Williston, 1900) was recorded for Nicaragua (Maes and Fachin, 2024), after more than 120 years known exclusively for Mexico. Knowledge about the natural history of the Raphiocerinae is still quite scarce, and aspects of adult biology are usually limited to accidental observations of these insects in the field (McFadden, 1970; Woodley, 2001, 2009; Marshall, 2012; Godoi and Rafael, 2013). According to Woodley (2009)H. hansoni is a fairly common species in Malaise trap samples from low to middle elevations in Central America, but this is not the case in South America, so its taxonomic and ecological information remains limited. Thus, expanding sampling, especially in regions poorly studied, will certainly contribute to understanding the distribution patterns and natural history, both Heptozus and the entire subfamily.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – CAPES (FSPG – 88887.921491/2023-00), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPQ (JRPL – 305451/2023-5), Apoio à execução de projetos de pesquisas científicas, tecnológicas e de inovação de discentes de pós-graduação (DPG 005/2024) and Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia – PPGZOO UnB. We thank to Professor Claudio José Barros de Carvalho for the loan of the material used in this study, Pedro Sisnando for the photographs and Marco de Haas for kindly providing the picture of a live Heptozus hansoni James.

References

• Godoi, F. S. P., Rafael, J. A., 2013. A new species of Dicranophora Macquart (Diptera, Stratiomyidae) from Bahia State, Brazil and a key to species of the genus. Zootaxa 3641, 83-91. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3641.1.9
  » https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3641.1.9
• Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica – IBGE, 2024. IBGE Mato Grosso do Sul – História Fotos. Available in: https://cidades.ibge.gov.br/brasil/ms/historico (accessed 13 March 2024).
  » https://cidades.ibge.gov.br/brasil/ms/historico
• James, M. T., 1966. The genera of Rhaphiocerinae with the elongated first antennal segment (Diptera: stratiomyidae). J. Kans. Entomol. Soc. 39 (4), 676-681.
• Lindner, E., 1949. Neotropische Stratiomyiiden des Britischen Museums in London. Theil I. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 1 (11), 782-821.
• Maes, J. M., Fachin, D. A., 2024. Listado ilustrado de los Stratiomyidae (Diptera) de Nicaragua. Rev. Nicaraguense De Entomol. 320, 1-198. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11179767
  » https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11179767
• Marshall, S. A., 2012. Flies: The Natural History and Diversity of Diptera. Firefly Books, New York, Richmont Hill.
• McFadden, M. W., 1970. New Rhaphiocerinae from Mexico, with a key to known genera (Diptera: stratiomyidae). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 63 (1), 316-320. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/63.1.316
  » https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/63.1.316
• Williston, S. W., 1900. Supplement [part], In: Godman F.D., Salvin O. (Eds.), Biologia Centrali-Americana, or, contributions to the knowledge of the fauna and flora of Mexico and Central America: Zoologia. Vol. I. Class Insecta. Order Diptera, London, pp. 217–248.
• Woodley, N. E., 2001. A world catalog of the Stratiomyidae (Insecta: diptera). Myia. 11, 1-475.
• Woodley, N. E., 2009. Stratiomyidae, In: Brown, B.V., Borkent, A., Cumming, J.M., Wood, D.M., Woodley, N.E., Zumbado, M.A. (Eds.), Manual of Central American Diptera. Vol. 1. NRC Research Press, Ottawa, pp. 521–549.

Edited by

Associate Editor: Sarah Oliveira

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  26 Aug 2024
• Date of issue
  2024

History

• Received
  29 Apr 2024
• Accepted
  13 July 2024